As
we move toward another New Year,
there are some important questions that each of us needs to consider:
How has our knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ grown in the
past year? Hopefully, He has become Lord of every area of your life and
mine, and the foundation of all we think, speak and do. Do you love Him
with all your heart, mind and might? Is life meaningless without Him?
Have you become His disciple, and are you being equipped for true
ministry—that is, obeying the commandments of Jesus? It is our sincere
prayer that you are.
This past year was another
challenging year for GSM, as well as a time of learning and spiritual
growth. One of the greatest challenges this ministry has always faced is
trying to minister the life of Christ to people who have the wrong
belief system, and who have accepted another Gospel, another Jesus and
another spirit. The year 2003 was no exception, and as we look at
ministry obligations lining up for 2004, we know that the same challenge
holds true for it as well.
One
of the most alarming trends
within the institutional church, and among those who claim to be
Christians is the “gospel” of metaphysics. According to Webster’s
Dictionary, metaphysical means “of or relating to the transcendent
(extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience; being
beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge, transcending
the universe or material existence) or supersensible (being above or
beyond that which is apparent to the senses); supernatural; highly
abstract or abstruse” (difficult to comprehend.)
Unfortunately,
many who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ are attracted to the
esoteric claims, practices and seemingly endless, multi-faceted
metaphysical avenues. This is one reason why those who are overseers and
teachers of God’s people, in keeping with the great commission (Matthew
28:18-20) must make disciples of Jesus. Anything other than making
disciples who obey all of Jesus’ commandments is disobedience to God,
and that includes causing people to believe that the most important
thing is church attendance and membership. People need to be taught how
to discern and test spirits. Satan knows very well how to dangle the
bait of “supernatural” experiences and “hidden knowledge” in front of
the eyes of a person who is weak in the faith, or who has the wrong
foundation, or who has no personal relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Some
people are drawn into the
metaphysical world because it feeds their pride by giving them a feeling
of intellectual superiority, and of power. Curiosity lures the
unsuspecting, while others really do not believe what the Word of God
says; especially concerning sin, hell, repentance, salvation, and who
Jesus is (God Incarnate). Those who try to explain away the deity of
Christ are of the antichrist spirit. (“Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in
the world” 1 John 4:3.) There are unbelievers (of the truth) in the
church who may appear to be extremely “spiritual,” but they have an
antichrist spirit as well. The discerning Christian will be able to
identify such as having a religious spirit.
Concerning
the
term “New Age,” allow me to quote from the
Watchman Expositor,
Volume 16, No. 4, 1999: “It is
important to note that the term "New Age Movement" is
somewhat of a misnomer. There is actually no New Age Movement, because a
movement usually has a core set of beliefs with an identifiable leader
or leaders. The New Age may more properly be called the New Age
Movements: a number of separate groups that tend to be categorized
according to their differences from the mainstream world religions. This
becomes particularly important when labeling a belief or practice as
"New Age;" while many New Age devotees may very well adhere to the
belief or practice, it is also a given that many others will not.
The New Age is
ultimately a collection of diverse movements that revolve around the
central belief that humans are capable of shaping reality and
establishing truth; the theories regarding the ways in which reality and
truth can be shaped are as varied as the groups espousing them.
While understanding that the New Age is incredibly diverse, it is also
possible to
identify several characteristics that are common to many adherents.”
Keep
in mind that people who are involved in metaphysical arenas, such as the
New Age, Mind Science, Freemasons, and Unity, will declare that they are
“believers” or even “Christians.” They quote passages from the Bible,
talk about Jesus and His teachings, but they are coming from a
completely different premise than a “fundamental Christian” which they
deplore. The mind-science cults and the New Age Movement are founded on
Hinduism and Eastern Mysticism, which is, of course, demonic to the
core.
We
have also met the occasional poor
soul who believes that he or she must find “hidden meanings” in the
Bible by “translating” Scripture. This amounts to twisting and wrenching
God’s Word out of context to mean something far different than the
original intent. The Bible is very clear concerning those who
“received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” 2
Thessalonians 2:10b. God will send a “strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” 2 Thessalonians
2:11, 12.
Satan, the master deceiver, is after our faith, and he can and does come
as a lying “angel of light” to seduce and destroy souls. (See 2
Corinthians 11:14.)
One
New Age practitioner, Yvotte De
Luca, who claims to be a “Metaphysical Christian,” “in the spirit of
finding the hidden meaning of Bible teachings,” gives this definition of
metaphysics: “Metaphysics is a study of truth. It is looking beyond the
superficial, seeing what is really there and not just accepting things
at face value. American Heritage defines metaphysics as: ‘the branch of
philosophy that examines the nature of reality and the relationship
between mind and matter.’ What does that mean, in the real world? It
means asking Why, and How our world works the way it does. It means
understanding everyday things on a deeper level…We study the imagery and
metaphor used in the Bible and strive to understand the deepest
meaning.” This theory is also the basis of the mind science cults such
as Religious Thought,
Christian Science,
Unity School of Christianity,
Divine Science,
New Thought,
Religious Science, A
Course in Miracles, and Silva Mind
Control, to name a few.
Occult
and cult researcher, writer and
speaker, Dave Hunt, explains: “The pantheistic belief that ‘nothing
exists except God’ is the foundation of the Mind Science cults. It goes
like this: ‘God is ALL and God is good; therefore all is good. Thus
pain, disease and death do not exist. They are the projection of the
negative thinking of those who imagine they experience such things. To
be delivered from this delusion, one must change one’s thinking from
negative (the dark side) to positive (the light side).’ Such is the
theory behind The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent
Peale’s best-selling book that has powerfully influenced evangelicals
for years.” (Occult Invasion, by Dave Hunt, pg. 103.)
According
to Dave Hunt, “Positive
confession in the church today is usually found mostly among
charismatics and can be traced back through Kenneth Hagin who
popularized it to E. W. Kenyon.” Hunt continues, “Kenyon’s teaching
about ‘the power of words’ and his warnings never to make a ‘negative
confession’ deeply influenced Hagin and many others who are recognized
today as leaders of this movement. Kenyon also taught that man is a
little god ‘in God’s class’ and therefore can use the same faith-force
that God does. We allegedly create our own reality with the words of our
mouths: ‘What I confess, I possess.” (Ibid. pg. 119.)
This
belief, which is practiced by all
the metaphysical mind-science cults, and New Age devotees has produced
multitudes of “positive confessors” in the church who, in their
rebellion or ignorance of God and His ways, are actually practicing a
form of witchcraft (control) that is not only faith-destroying, but
opens them up to a wrong spirit and major delusion. It cannot be
stressed enough that the popular “Faith Movement” today is based upon
the ancient, pagan, occult belief that ‘faith is a force.’ The Word of
God, however, teaches no such thing and defines faith as, “Now faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”
Hebrews 11:1. Romans 10:17
says, “So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. James 2:17, “Even so
faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone”. 1 John 5:4, “For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
Dave
Hunt writes, “‘Positive
Confession’ means to verbalize positive thought and speak it
aloud—precisely what shamans have believed and practiced for thousands
of years in all cultures.” (Ibid. pg. 119.) The question is, does
it really work? Yes, sometimes it can and does work, but it is forbidden
by God, contrary to Scripture, because it is of another spirit, and it
is witchcraft in action. All such mental and spiritual exercises will be
judged by God as wicked, ungodly and unholy because their source stems
from “the god of this world,” or Satan, and because it seeks to elevate
the person to the status of a “little god,” while demoting God Almighty.
Satan
always works in extremes. If he
can’t push a person into one extreme, then he will try to push him or
her to an extreme in the opposite direction. Those who have recognized
and withstood the muddy river of occultism that has flooded Christendom,
however, often overreact to any experience or revelation that a true
believer has had. In this extreme, Satan loves to discredit any
legitimate believer who has received a greater revelation of Christ
through the Scriptures, or to whom the Holy Spirit has imparted truths
by the gift of wisdom or word of knowledge.
There
are experiences and revelations
that come from God. However, such experiences and revelations lead back
to a greater reality of God. They enlarge one to embrace God in greater
measure, bringing about change. Such also lines up with the Word of God
in Spirit and Truth. Testing experiences and revelations is quite
simple. Do they exalt the true God of the Bible or man’s intelligence
and feelings?
Some
of the differences between
metaphysics and Christianity are as follows: Metaphysics appeals
to a person’s pride by denying the existence of sin and by exalting him
or her to godhood, whereas the Bible plainly teaches that we are all
sinners and that there is only one God by nature. Metaphysics carries
with it a seducing spirit that deceives people into believing that the
mysteries of the Universe can be psychically explored and discovered
through complex, open-ended, mind-boggling means. The Word of God, on
the other hand, gives mankind the answers to life’s basic questions
that, when accepted and believed by faith, produce peace of mind and
heart. Metaphysics causes people to turn inward to find “god,” whereas
Christianity points to the Creator God who exists separate from His
creation.
Metaphysics
results in an altered state of
consciousness that is incapable of discerning spirits, truth and
reality, but, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance”
Galatians 6:22,23. Metaphysics is incomprehensible, confusing, and
hard to understand, whereas basic Christianity and the Gospel are so
simple that even a small child can understand it. Finally, metaphysical
thinkers are forever seeking “greater revelations and hidden meanings”
behind the plain words of Scripture, whereas the Christian seeks to know
the Jesus of the Bible in greater ways. Note: God reveals Himself to
those who seek Him with all their heart, who are humble and who obey
Him. Obedience is the key to gaining a greater revelation of God. Real
Christianity is practical and down-to-earth—where we live in our
everyday lives. Religion is man’s effort to reach up to God, but
Christianity is God reaching down to man in the Person of Jesus Christ.
If
you want to gain eternal life,
then you must believe what God has revealed about Himself. There is only
one way to escape the final judgment and to inherit eternal life, and
that is by believing the record that God has given of His Son. There are
no “hidden meanings” in the Word of God, no “hidden agendas” that we
must somehow discover, and no exceptions to the plain text of Scripture.
The way to eternal life is so simple that even a little child can
understand it, and accept it by faith. Are you willing to humble
yourself and become as that little child?
